Typical widths by placement
- Finger: 1–2 cm
- Behind the ear: 2–4 cm
- Inner wrist: 3–6 cm
- Ankle: 3–7 cm
- Collarbone: 6–12 cm
- Forearm: 6–14 cm
- Upper arm: 10–18 cm
- Calf: 10–18 cm
- Thigh: 12–25 cm
- Spine: 15–40 cm tall
- Back piece: 30 cm and up
Detail needs space
Lines spread slightly as a tattoo heals. As a rule of thumb, keep gaps between lines around 1 mm or more and lowercase letters at least about 5 mm tall. If a design has lots of detail, go bigger or simplify it.
Check it on your own body
Upload a photo of the placement, mark a known length (like a ruler or a credit card) to calibrate, and set the width in cm. The preview, the stencil and the PDF all use the same number.
See it on your skin before the consult
Try a design on your own photo, calibrated in cm, then print the stencil at exactly that size.
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